Iditarod Thematic Unit

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2010 Participating Teachers

  • Justin Dipaola - jdipaola@glv.bssd.org

Another Iditarod is Upon Us!

CURRENT STANDINGS from Iditarod.com

LIVE UNALAKLEET CHECKPOINT WEB CAM

This is the starter page for a wiki-based thematic unit on dog mushing, and the Iditarod that is open to all teachers and students who would like to use it. If you are looking for 2009 Iditarod resources:

Image:iditaproject_2009.jpg

Anyone can contribute - teacher, student, Iditarod fans or those interested in mushing itself - so create an account, and let's make it the best single resource out there!

This is a work in progress, but formalizes curriculum elements that have been used in the Bering Strait School District for many years, and blends them with new technologies, such as podcasts, video streams, student and teacher created content, resources, and lesson plans.

BSSD has more schools in villages along the Iditarod National Historical Trail than any other school district - including the Iditarod School District!

We welcome you to use the Talk Page to discuss the direction and development of this Open Content resource.

Contents

2009 Iditarod In Progress!

The BSSD IditaProject team is beginning it's active planning phase for the 2009 Iditarod season, and registration is open! This year there will be a free online course for teachers and schools that will be first come - first served-- butt plug.

Last year, IditaProject reached this registered audience:

Image:2009_stats.jpg

MUSHING MEDIA - Iditarod 2009 Photos & Videos & Archives

Videos & Photos
Iditaproject 2009 Iditaproject Archives 2007-2008
Iditaproject 2009 Photos Iditaproject 2007
Iditaproject 2009 Videos Iditaproject 2008

RSS Feed

Image:Rss.gif - Subscribe and receive ALL the updates!


2009 Ceremonial Start Photos

2009 Ceremonial Start Videos

Student Broadcast Team Video Stream of Iditarod Coverage

VIDEO STREAM - BSSD Video Stream of Iditarod Coverage.

2009 Live Coverage

In addition to IditaProject itself, our users are collaboratively providing free 2009 Race Coverage Resources for tracking Iditarod 2009 news and events!

Expanded IditaProject coverage is planned this year that will include free video conference connections with schools around the country. These sessions will also broadcast live via a Flash stream that requires no special software.

In addition, this page has a solid collection of lessons, resources, and standards-linked support materials. It will also have links to all prior year podcasts, video streams, and MP3s that were produced by students and teachers.

The new IditaProject Mushing Forum Area is open all year, but is particularly busy during the race with fan discussion, race reports, and even some of the mushers stopping in. The volunteer moderators there have done an excellent job at organizing off season chats, interviews with mushers, and generating a supportive community. This year the IditaProject participants will use the Teachers Only Forums there, and the student-moderated Students Only Forum to directly discuss events, and get classrooms more connected and involved.

2009 Partnerships

For the fifth year, we are partnering with organizations such as the Bureau of Land Management's Iditarod National Historic Trail program, the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, GCI's SchoolAccess division, Northern Air Cargo (NAC), Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation (NSEDC), and others to make this collaborative teacher-to-teacher, and student-to-student project possible. More information on sponsorship and activities planned will appear here shortly.

Want to help sponsor our project?

Video Conference and Distance Course Registration

Wiki Editing: Where to Start?

If you are new to wiki syntax - which is MUCH easier than HTML - we recommend you take a look at the excellent one page wiki editing cheatsheet that you can print out.

Use the "Edit" button along the top to change any page. To create new pages simply put double brackets around a word or phrase that becomes the page name like this [[Cool New Page]]. The example page link would red, which indicates that only a page "stub" or placeholder exists. You can then click that red link to add information to the newly created page.

This outline is only a rough organizer for the Bering Strait School District's IditaProject. Please add to the outline so that we can begin to make this a good Iditarod unit for everyone.

Anybody can contribute by registering with a valid email address!

Iditarod Resources Overview

In general, our goals for this Open Content thematic instructional unit on the Iditarod Sled Dog Race are:

  • Collaboratively create a repository of Iditarod themed teaching units
  • Organize Iditarod resources so they can be used by anyone interested in tracking or learning about the race
  • Organize the instructional resources into a sensible array that can be used by multiple age and skill level groups
  • Align embedded BSSD and Alaska standards to those from other locations and groups

Iditarod 2009 Quick Reference

These links are for quick reference, and can be added to by anyone:

Tracking the Race

  • 2009 Race Coverage - Collaboratively edited live wiki tracking Iditarod 2009 news and events!
  • Josh Roger's IditaBlog - Josh always has great Itidarod coverage posts, and used to live in the area. He's a genuinely nice guy, as well ;-)

Iditarod Forums

  • Mushing Forum - Open Mushing Forum hosted by BSSD. Many active users, and 13,000 + posts in first 8 months!

Webcams

  • Anchorage Sheraton Webcam - This one doesn't show the ceremonial start, but you can see where they will be going, and you might even catch a glimpse of the mushers as they head down the trail.
  • FAA Alaska Weathercams Along the Iditarod Trail - Up to the minute views of the weather and surrounding landscape at 13 Alaskan communities and remote sites along the historic Iditarod Trail from Seward to Koyuk. Very cool views of the mountain country crossed by the Iditarod Sled Dog Race can be seen at the Puntilla Lake and Rohn cams. Helps prevent fliers who follow the Idita-route from crashing into mountains obscured by clouds or snow. Scroll down the list to select one of the following (listed here from south to north, although on FAA site is listed alphabetically): Seward, Portage Glacier, Anchorage, Birchwood, Puntilla Lake, Rohn, Nikolai, McGrath, Ruby, Ruby Airport, Galena, Kaltag, Unalakleet, Koyuk, Elim
  • BSSD IditaCam - Live, steerable camera periodically available throughout race
  • White Mountain Checkpoint Cam - Under repair, but will be online soon!

Race Route & Checkpoint Info

Photos and Media Galleries

Video Views of the Trail Today - On-the-ground and from the air!

  • Farewell Lakes - Iditarod 2008 - Snowmobile south on the Iditarod Trail across the Farewell Lakes during the 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race during a warm spell. View is SE toward Alaska Range.
  • Helicopter Landing at Rohn Airstrip - 2008 helicopter landing at the Rohn airstrip, home of the BLM Rohn Shelter Cabin and Iditarod Sled Dog Race Rohn checkpoint. View is east to Dalzell Gorge (gap between mountains above/right end of airstrip)

Mushing Blogs

Past Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Stats

2008 Iditarod

2007 Iditarod

2006 Iditarod

2005 Iditarod

2004 Iditarod

History of the Iditarod

First there were Native Alaskan trails connecting their on the coasts, over the mountain passes, and along the rivers in Alaska. Next came the Russian fur trappers, traders and colonizers, and they used the same trails. Next came the Americans, who stampeded for gold on the same trails and linked new towns like Fairbanks, Nome, and Iditarod.

The Alaska Road Commission then linked a series of these trails from Seward to Nome, through the town of Iditarod. When the goldfields went bust, and many of the trails grew over for a half century, until a group of folks led by Joe Redington Sr., had the wild idea to hold a sleddog race from Anchorage to Nome.

That was 37 years ago, and annual races have been held ever since. The trail was designated by Congress as the Iditarod National Historic Trail in 1978. So when you think about "the history of the Iditarod", do you mean the sleddog race? the historic trail? the historic town? or the river named Iditarod? There are centuries of history out there!!

Iditarod Educational Links

Are you a teacher who has used or located a good existing resource? List it here, and consider registering for IditaProject 2009. It is free for teachers and schools anywhere.

This year's IditaProject topic threads:


Collaborative Instructional Units - Created by the IditaProject Working Weekend Team, but feel free to help!

The units below are linked to BSSD standards, but anyone can contribute or use them:

Note: Anyone can create units of their own here on this wiki by creating an account, and then just entering the name of the page in the search bar to the left and clicking "Go". The red then creates a new page with your unit title. Just use the Lesson Plan Template if you like by typing in {{subst:Lesson_Plan}} at the top of a blank new page!

Free Rubric Creator - Great site to make rubrics that can be then uploaded to the wiki for your activities.

General Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Resources (For All Ages)

Primary Grades Resources (K-3)

  • Making an Idita-Rock - Download instructions for this craft project for young students - making a dog team out of rocks. Originally from the Cabela's website.
  • Mrs. Kris Coates Iditarod Unit This is a great thematic unit with many activities to keep students engaged.
  • Teacher Lesson Plans for Grade 3-a link with teacher resources/lesson plans produced by a librarian in Pennsylvania
  • Iditakid-A race around the school with checkpoints, rules, etc... teaching about the Iditarod.
  • Scholastic Thematic Unit Here is an Iditarod Thematic Unit called Iditarod Picture Dictionary to use with lower elementary. What's neat about this site is it has a scoring guide built in to the unit that is electronic.
  • Musher Biography Template A basic template students can use to display biographical info on mushers.
  • Info on Iditarod This website is neat. You choose a part of the Iditarod, then read a small article related to that choice and answer a couple of true/false questions about the reading. All interactive and a good connection for comprehension checks while learning about the Iditarod. All made by 5th graders.
  • Iditarod Race Stations For the lesson, students will be traveling to ten stations that are designed using the Iditarod theme. Each station is named after an actual checkpoint in the race. Each station is marked with it's name, direction for completing the station and the number of points scored at the station. The display serves as one station where students answer questions about the race.
  • Education World - Track the Trek-complete with national standards.
  • Musher Picture Dictionary Lesson Plan
  • Graph the Winning Times- linked to national standards
  • Packing for the Iditarod- Another Education World Lesson
  • Creating an Iditarod Picture Dictionary For K-2.
  • Mushing Log- linked to Indiana State standards

Upper Elementary Resources (4-8)

Secondary Resources (9-12)

State Specific Standards & Lessons

  • Florida Grade 3 Unit - Kip Mitchell of Pinellas County School District did a nice job pulling these resources and guides together for an integrated Grade 3 unit. Lots of good stuff here linked to Florida standards.

2009 Iditarod Musher Info

Please see 2009 Race Coverage page for a complete list of 2009 mushers, and information about their websites, blogs and news stories.

Uncategorized Iditarod Links

This area is a temporary holding area for a links that our volunteers, teachers and other contributors will organize into appropriate categories so folks can find them. If you are not sure where something goes, put it here!!


Links to Check

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